I first learned about bullet journaling at the 2016 NY SCBWI Conference during an all-day intensive editing session with Kate Messner and Linda Urban. The concept seemed surprisingly simple: use one notebook to keep all your lists, notes, thoughts, ramblings, etc. It can be as simple or complicated as you like (check out #BulletJournal on Instagram if you really want to feel bad about yourself for over-the-top elaborate designs, or check out the official Bullet Journal description).

After the conference, I bought my journal and it languished on my desk like every other pretty notebook I’d ever purchased. Because it’s terrifying to mark the first pages. What if you mess up? Or you decide later that you don’t like THAT as the first page?

My solution for that is I always leave the first few pages blank.

The official bullet journal has tiny dots that make horizontal and vertical lines (hence BULLET—or at least that’s how I think of it), but they’re light enough that you can draw over them if you so choose. Several pages at the front of the journal are dedicated for a table of contents, because the entire journal has page numbers. So if you’re brainstorming a project or planning a wedding or creating a menu centered around a fabulous broiled duck, you can mark what page those notes are. Saves lots of time flipping through the book.

I rarely use this feature.

It took me close to a year to settle on a system that works for me, and since then I have talked to countless people about my method. The most common thing I hear is “I wish I could do something like this.” A couple friends have even gone so far as to buy the journal, but that’s as far as they get. So I am here NOW to break down my system with LOTS of pictures to show you that this isn’t rocket science. It’s not even science. It’s just a notebook and pretty pens and about 10-15 minutes per week.

Yes, you get to use pretty markers and pens. And washi tape, if you so choose. I recommend PaperMate Flair pens because they don’t bleed through the page.

Here’s my system at its most basic level:

I use different colors for different categories. It took a little getting used to, but now I automatically know purple = writing, green = exercise, and bright blue = other activities, etc.

Monthly goals

I have one page per month where I write:

• all things I want to accomplish
• events outside of my normal schedule
• miscellaneous things I need to remember
• a color-coded tracker of the things I want to do daily

Let’s talk for a moment about the beauty of the daily tracker.

1. You can switch up the things you track every month. Did something every day without breaking a sweat? Perhaps you should swap that out with a new habit you’re trying to form, like knitting!
2. You get to use different colored markers.
3. By tracking things daily on the monthly page, you consistently look at the monthly page and therefore don’t forget about the monthly goals you set at the beginning of the month. I really deserve a Nobel Prize for that one.

In 2020, I added a couple more columns focused on self-care—drinking less, sleeping more, eating better—and being accountable to the pastel pens has had a positive effect.

Weekly goals

Every Sunday evening, I spread out my pretty markers, pull up the calendar on my phone, and write down everything I have scheduled for that week. (Note: I do NOT include my day job calendar. I have my own convoluted system there.)

Here’s what I include:

• Monday through Friday get equal spaces on the left side of the page
• Saturday & Sunday get the lower right corner
• The upper right corner is reserved for all the things that I need to accomplish during the week, but don’t need to happen on a certain day.

I feel it’s important to say that it’s very common for me to NOT finish everything on my list. There are some things that get moved from week to week until I’m so irritated that I finish them purely out of spite. THAT’S OKAY!

Special pages

The fun part of bullet journaling—aside from actually using all the markers you compulsively buy every time you wander into the office supply aisle—is drawing and doodling and letting your creativity run wild. (If that’s not fun for you, well then I don’t know what we’re doing here). I’ve mostly used this for tracking my word count during NaNoWriMo and checklists during book launches.

The number one way this process helps me is I no longer feel like I’m forgetting something. I have generalized anxiety disorder and a touch of OCD, so I pretty much live in a constant state of worry. But by writing down that I need to send a thank-you note to my aunt, I can delete that nugget from my brain and leave space for more fretting book ideas.

But it hasn’t broken me of my sticky-note habit.

I’d love to hear from you. Have you tried this type of calendar or journaling? Do you think you’ll start?

Let me know if you’d like to know more about this process. I’m happy to do more posts!